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The Ice Pick

Have any of you had one of these? Either during an attack or starting one, I'll get this excruciating pain that feels exactly like someone took an ice pick and hammered it INSIDE my temple on one side. It continues for a few seconds, but repeats over and over for 30 seconds to a minute. It is so severe, I cannot help but cry out and hold my hand to my temple in agony. So embarrassing... It usually goes on sporadically for an hour or more, and is likely to last episodically up to several days along with the status migraine it accompanies. After it stops, the area is extremely sore for several days. Do you have this? Is it a blood vessel issue? I'm seeing my doc in a couple weeks. I've had this symptom for several years, and simply accepted it as part of my particular migraine disease, which my neurologist and 2 migraine specialists have said I have an extremely severe case of. How lovely, right? Mine began at age 14. I'm 73 years young, dammit!

  1. Hi Susan L,

    Thank you for sharing your story with us and being part of our community - we're glad you're here!

    Ice-pick headache, or primary stabbing headache is a real diagnosis. You can find more information about that here; https://migraine.com/blog/ice-pick-headaches/.

    I'm going to share information about cluster headache with you, but I'm not suggesting you have this, rather something to share with your doctor; https://migraine.com/blog/cluster-headaches-explained/.

    If you've already been to the doctor, will you let us know how you made out?
    Nancy

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